Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124 Page 125 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128Steve Brace, SB Flooring, Machesney Park, Ill. – Urethane grout for wall tile can be a real pain sometimes. It’s a great decorative grout for backsplash- es and showers, but it likes to run down the joints slightly. What I have found helps is to take a usable amount out of the container and let it air out for about five minutes, then apply it to the wall. It seems to help some – usually. Kevin Moser, Moser Tile, Design & Construction, Billings, Mont. – I would say the biggest problem I run into is extreme weather. In the sum- mer we reach tem- peratures of over 100 and I can’t keep products cool and they fire off too quickly. I keep a cooler of ice on the jobsite to keep my liquids cool. And currently our temperatures are under 0 constantly. It’s hard to keep things from freezing outside. Basically now if I can’t use a garage I’m not doing the job. I know this doesn’t have to do with grout only, but it definitely affects it. Jeremy Waldorf, Legacy Floors, Howell, Mich. – My biggest chal- lenge with grout is selecting a “one size fits all” product that will leave my customer with a low maintenance end result, regardless of the application. With many of the high- performance cementitious grouts, there are still very small aggregates that can leave tiny scratches on glass, stone and even some glazed ceramic tiles. I know there are tile HOT TOPICS –––––––––––––––––––––––––– Grout This month, we introduce a new feature – Hot Topics. You’ll see this feature six times in 2017, drawing responses from Facebook online com- munities like NTCA Members and Tile Geeks. The idea is to tap the great font of wisdom possessed by installers who are doing the work every day, and to explore frustrations, challenges and solutions to common jobsite situations. Look for a request for information in online communities – or if you are an outspoken type and would like to be queried in a future installment, shoot me a quick email at lesley@tile-assn.com. This month’s topic is grout – exploring and discovering situations that confound, and real-world solutions you can use every day. – Lesley Goddin 104 TileLetter | February 2017